Each CEO has at least one trusted voice to listen to. Increasingly, that voice belongs to the CIO. A CIO may not be able to tell the boss how every department in the enterprise should run, but the good ones know how to make those other departments run more efficiently. So, what do CEOs wish for in a CIO? The answer is the stuff that transforms an IT executive from the techie in the back room to a key adviser in the boardroom.

By Robert Regis Hyle

When you ask chief executive officers and placement services what skills they are seeking in a chief information officer, the answers may well be the same ones given for any of the C-level positions with an insurance carrier. When good CEOs are looking for a good CIO, they are looking for leadership skills, someone who is technical but not too technical, and someone who has good business acumen and boardroom presence, says Sheila Greco, president of Sheila Greco Associates, a placement firm for top-level positions.